London Tube fares

[SweetShreddedCoconut]

Hi I'm off to London soon for a four day break. I'm wondering what would be the cheapest way of using the tube. Would a day pass be better or would it be cheaper to buy a four day ticket ?

Just tap in and out with your contactless card (or phone). That is the cheapest way, and also saves time as you don't need to queue for tickets.

Just tap in and out with your bank card or banking app in your phone, it calculates the journey automatically, no need for a pass.

Gotta say last time I was in London I didn't use the tube at all. I used a combination of electric scooters & Uber boats. It was amazing & I got to say way more stuff.

TFL have a daily cap which means pay as you go has a defined limit.

https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/new-fares?intcmp=34454#on-this-page-3

It also charges you the cheapest fare

Tap in…tap out….at midnight you will be charged the cheapest fare for the day

ps….do not forget to tap out…..expensive mistake

You can't get 4 day tickets.
You just pay with a contactless card/apple pay and they price cap daily.
Zone 1/2 (central London) is about £9 a day I think.
Contactless is always the cheapest..
Edit : it's £8.50.

Thank you everyone.

If for any reason you need to go from one side of London to the other without going through zone 1, use the Overground and tap your card on the pink reader before you get on the train. This tells the system that you did not go through zone 1 and the fare is much cheaper. For example, Stratford to Richmond off-peak is £5.60 if you go through the centre of town but only £1.90 with the Overground.

Just make sure you tap in and out with the same card. Any mistake and tap in / out with different cards will charge you more.

Thanks . I have registered our debit cards with TFL and they are ready to go.

I've never registered my debit card with TfL and commute into London. I just use my phone.

@SweetShreddedCoconut I've never heard of having to register your cards with tfl and I use London transport almost daily.
What exactly have you registered for (ie does it give you any extras?)

You can register your bank card if you want to be able to have statements showing your journeys, eg if you need to claim them on expenses. But otherwise there's no need to register a bank card in advance of using it on London transport.

We went to London recently and one if the tubes had all the barriers open so we couldn't tap out.

You can always tap in / out. Doesn’t matter if barriers are open. Lots of stations outside central don’t even have barriers but you still tap in

I've created an account with TFl to register our debit cards as it tracks journeys and caps our travel costs . We are using this system instead of using an Oyster card . If you have an tourist Oyster card you can report it stolen and you can claim back the cost of the card plus any outstanding credit

OP, highly advise the Citymapper app. If you’re visiting and staying within the central area it’s so much nicer to walk or get the bus. Citymapper will give you all options for travel including walking.

You can see the journeys you have made, and much easier to make a claim if there is a mistake ie not tapped out.

You absolutely can tap out even if the gates are open - in fact, you must, in order to avoid overcharging. I've commuted in London for decades and this is what everyone using anything other than a paper ticket does. If everyone was just walking through the barriers they were either using a paper ticket or were fare dodging.

You don't need to register to cap the travel costs - there is a daily cap (as long as you use the same bank card the whole day) even if you haven't registered.

You don't need to register for a debit card. Just always use the same one!

Also one per person (seems obvious but the amount of tourists stuck at the gates).

Getting the child discount for 11-15 year olds is a pain. That needs an Oyster card which is £5 so you need to make a few journeys before it is worth the bother of just using a contactless card.

TFL page is here for facts: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/best-ways-for-visitors-to-pay

@SweetShreddedCoconut oh ok. Other than tracking journeys it doesn't seem to do anything different to it not being registered.
You still get the price cap even if not registered.
Anyway...... enjoy your trip 🙂
@LlamaNoDrama always tap out even if the barriers are open. Just because they are open it doesn't make any difference. Sometimes at busy times they are left open to make it quicker to get everyone through - but you still need to tap your card. The act of tapping your card (and it going "beep") is the important bit. Not the gates opening. Some stations don't have gates - just a stand alone Oyster/Contactless reader.

Thanks. We don't go to London often but I'll bear it in mind for any future visits

children under 11 go free. Just walk through wide barrier with them.